The Death of the Past

by Plumb, J. H.; Ferguson, Niall; Schama, Simon

• ISBN13: 9781403906984
• ISBN10: 140390698X
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-03-04
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

In this book, J.H. Plumb investigates the way that humankind has, since the beginning of recorded time, molded the past to give sanction to their institutions of government, their social structure and morality. The past has also been called upon to explain the nature of our destiny in order both to strengthen the objectives of society and to reconcile us to our lot. J.H. Plumb questions this sanction of the past, the force that it has on our sense of destiny and its relevance to our own times. This classic text is now reissued with a new introduction by Niall Ferguson, placing it within a contemporary context, and with a new foreword by the eminent historian Simon Schama, a former student of J.H.Plumb himself.

Author Biography

J. H. Plumb is Professor Emeritus, Christ's College, Cambridge.

Niall Ferguson is Professor of Political and Financial History, Jesus College, Oxford.

Simon Schama is Professor of History, Columbia University, New York.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD by Simon Schama	ix
INTRODUCTION by Niall Ferguson	xxi
PREFACE	9	(2)
INTRODUCTION	11	(8)
1 The Sanction of the Past	19	(43)
2 The Past as Destiny	62	(40)
3 The Role of History	102	(45)
INDEX OF NAMES	147